Italy Mulls Reduction of Peacekeepers in Lebanon after Approving Extra Troops for Afghanistan
Italy”s government on Thursday said it was ready to send 1,000 extra soldiers to Afghanistan next year, a move that would result in a "corresponding reduction" in the Balkans and Lebanon, said Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.
"We are now in a position to increase the number of Italian soldiers by 1,000 beginning at the start of 2010," said Defense Minister Ignazio La Russa, adding the deployments would be spread out through the year.
The additional Italian troops would result in a "corresponding reduction" in other international missions, including in the Balkans and Lebanon, said Foreign Minister Franco Frattini.
Readiness to send 1,000 extra soldiers to Afghanistan came following U.S. President Barack Obama”s announcement of a troop surge.
"Obama has spoken of the beginning of a withdrawal from 2011. We hope that will be possible," Frattini said.
Italy, one of 43 countries which make up the U.S.-led coalition in Afghanistan, currently has around 2,800 troops deployed in the war against Taliban insurgents and their al-Qaida allies.
La Russa said the extra troops would be part of a wider effort to bring stability to Afghanistan more than eight years into the war.
He named "major resources for reconstruction, more obligations for the Karzai government in the battle against drugs, more training for Afghan forces".
The reinforcements would make Italy”s one of the largest contingents in NATO”s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF).
Britain currently has the largest number of troops of any European country with around 9,500, Germany has around 4,500 while France has 3,300.
La Russa said earlier in an interview with the Corriere della Sera daily newspaper that the bulk of the reinforcements were likely to arrive in the second half of 2010.
That would occur after the return of around 1,000 Italian troops serving in Kosovo and a further 200 from Lebanon, he said.